MM+M will stage its second in-person Media Summit tomorrow at Convene in New York City. The all-day affair brings together the sharpest minds and personalities in the healthcare media landscape as well as leading execs from the medical marketing world.

Pharma companies participating in the event include Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Ferring Pharmaceuticals and GSK spinoff Haleon. Among the many media luminaries set to attend, Univision’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Juan Rivera will be on hand to deliver the keynote address. 

At the inaugural in-person Media Summit last year, media buyers and health marketers focused on a handful of issues, including recognizing the importance of representation in advertising, leveraging programmatic technology, preparing for a streaming-dominated future and navigating the expansive world of social media. This year’s event will center on similar themes, with panels dedicated to health equity in media, strategies for efficient TV ad spend, tips for personalizing content at the point of care and efforts to combat medical disinformation.

Now that the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic is over, leaders are learning from the lessons of the past three years and adapting to media consumption habits that were, in some cases, permanently affected by the public health crisis.

To that point, an area likely to receive significant attention is the future of pharma marketing on ad-supported streaming. On this week’s episode of The MM+M Podcast, Roku head of marketing and solutions, health and wellness, CPG Chris Schneider detailed what attendees can expect at the event.

Schneider’s panel will analyze the state of the streaming union and assess the headwinds faced by these platforms amid price concerns and flagging viewership numbers.

“When you think about where pharma is, in general, it’s an exciting time to be in the streaming ecosystem,” he said. 

The panel will also delve into macroeconomic trends in streaming and offer advice on how pharma marketers can maximize their advertising dollars. 

Schneider, who worked at GSK for more than a decade, said there are ample opportunities for pharma brands to grow in terms of reaching consumers through connected TV — and, in the process, improve health outcomes.

He pointed to a recent Roku study that found consumers who cut the cord were less aware of the top pharma brands than their counterparts who still had linear TV. It also found that primary care physicians who cut the cord were 14% less likely to be aware of the top pharma brands compared to those who watched linear TV.

That lack of brand awareness can impact a number of key metrics, including patient education, care outcomes and script lift, Schneider noted. “That [phenomenon] has massive implications for public health and is one myth we’re looking to bust.”

For more information on the MM+M Media Summit, click here.